Should Jurors Be Told?

"Since 1991, 218 individuals have been exonerated through DNA testing, and
in more than three-quarters of the cases, mistaken eyewitness identifications
were crucial in the wrongful convictions according to the Innocence Project"
quoted from an article about race and eyewitness ID, Race Can Hinder Eyewitness ID's.
The article was published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram
on page 2A on Monday, August 11, 2008.

But what makes this more interesting is that in half of these identifications,
a person of one race misidentified a person of another race. Sociologists and
others have studied perceptions by members of one race in regard to members
of another race. They have concluded that mistakes are made most often when
a member of a racial majority is asked about a picture of a member of a racial minority.
This is not true of the United States alone but is true worldwide. One study I read some
time back said that it did not matter which race was involved or minority/majority
status, the authors concluded that whenever the picture of a different race is involved,
cross-racial errors are likely to arise.

"The American Bar Association which is currently meeting in New York is considering
whether to recommend that judges use their discretion to make juries aware of
the problems that can plague-cross-racial identification."

This immediately raised the question in my mind about the effect upon the jury. Would
it be perceived as a statement given because the judge himself/herself had doubts about
the eyewitness testimony? Would it cause more problems for a jury in reaching a verdict?

North Carolina has become the 1st state to standardize the identification procedure and it
looks quite promising. The police officer who is investigating the crime is prohibited
from conducting photo identifications with witnesses. Also line-up photographs must be shown
one after another and not in groups of 6.

New software shown at the convention would allow witnesses to view the lineups (photos) that are
identical in order shown, etc. on multiple police laptops. Because the sessions of identification would
be digitally recorded, defense attorneys can get copies of the photos and the audio.

A 22 year-old rape victim picked out the person she believed had raped her. After he spent
more than 10 years in prison, Cotton was exonerated by DNA. The rape victim and Mr. Cotton
are collaborating on a book about the incident which will be called Picking Cotton.

Do you think jurors should be told about the problems with cross-racial identification?

This is Scary and Your Name might be there

There is a new FREE service that allows you to look up a person's name in order to see if he/she has a criminal record. Sounds great until you discover that a traffic ticket is shown as a criminal offense IF THE COMMUNITY REPORTS TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS.

Records may be incomplete and what about people with the same name and no way to differentiate them?

If the advanced feature is used, and it should be, then you can enter birthdays or age range as well as state, etc.

I tried a few names of people I know and one came up with aliases untold and the same name was listed in many places. Since I knew the birth dates were wrong, it made no difference to me BUT WHAT ABOUT A COMPANY WANTING TO HIRE WHO DOESN'T HAVE THE CORRECT BIRTH DATE?

This may be useful to check out someone you are thinking of using as a helper, but remember that computers are only as good as the information provided to them.

If you want to read the article itself, click the word article. If you want to try the site, click here

Plenty of privacy issues involved here; what do you think?

Drinking a beer on the street led to 14 years in prison

This case really defies logic and is filled with
questionable actions by many.
Kareem Bellamy, 26, was breaking the open container law
when he stood outside his home drinking a beer. Next
thing he knew a police car drove up and placed him
under arrest.

Knowing he did nothing that should prompt an arrest, he
stated "This a mistake. What happened,
someone say I murdered someone?" Those fateful words
would be viewed as a "consciousness of guilt." Weeping jurors took
4 days to find him guilty.

Many years ahead of schedule, Mr. Bellamy, now 41,
is due back in court on Thursday, no longer guilty of the murder.
His conviction was vacated on June 27 by Justice Joel L. Blumenfeld
of State Supreme Court in Queens. Mr. Bellamy will be seeking bail
while prosecutors decide whether to try him again.

"That Mr. Bellamy will have a second chance to fight the murder charge
is due not to any particular diligence by law enforcement authorities,
but rather because the final link in a chain of lucky breaks delivered
him a secret tape recording. On it, a man says that he and
another man actually did the killing." (copied from article)

This case does not involve DNA but it does have many twists and turns.
It is hard to understand that the witness testimony was ever allowed.

You should read the article that explains what happened
and I am pretty sure you will shake your
head in amazement, just as I did.

Does Arizona Have the Answer to Lowered Recidivism

An article in the Christian Science monitor discusses an innovative program
in the Arizona prison system called "Getting Ready."

Since Sheriff Joe of Maricopa County
is widely publicized for his tent jail with bologna sandwiches
served daily along with the notorious pink underwear for males,
the steps taken by the prison system in Arizona are
truly noteworthy.

The program involves an assessment when the prisoner arrives to
determine problems whose correction should make re-entry into
society upon release a bit easier. For example we know that those
with education and vocational skills are less likely to become a recidivist.

So the first step is to ensure that the prisoner is literate and
to help him/her to achieve the skills where needed. 5,136 prisoners became
literate in 2007.

3,306 inmates passed the GED which is a 318% rise from 2003
when only 731 prisoners passed the GED.

Inmates are expected to participate in education or work, self-development,
restorative-justice programs seven days a week. All privileges are tied to this.
If you do not participate, you remain at entry level salary and
highly limited activities and commissary privileges. Even the number of
visits and telephone calls are based on the participation activities and the
benefits are all earned.

According to the official AZ website great improvements have occurred.
Assaults on both prisoners and guards is lower and even the number of
litigation activity has dropped.

Will this be the answer that every other state should rush to emulate?
Many states are now trying innovative methods to prepare the non-violent
offender for re-entry into society along with greater use of community
corrections.

What do you think of the Arizona plan? Let's dialog

Health Care for Elderly Prisoners

A recent inmate at the Florida penal system is an 83-year-old
who was sentence to life for the murder of his wife.

An article in the Orlando Sentinel mentions that he became the 71st inmate
who is 80 or older in Florida prisons.

There are 14,000 inmates 50 or older in Florida's correctional institutions.

The oldest prisoner is an 89-year-old man and separated by only a
few months is an 89-year-old woman.

It costs taxpayers three times more for older inmates than for those
under 50 because of health case. This care includes wheelchairs and
cancer treatments along with a multitude of prescription drugs.

Four of the prisons in Florida have "geriatric" wings to handle the elderly and their needs.

More than 3,000 prisoners aged 50 or older were sentenced to prison in Florida this past year alone.

There are 760 female prisoners aged 50 or more and three who are over 80.

The state has had to build a geriatric wing in the woman's prison in Ocala.

A corrections official stated that Florida would be wise to consider a

version of a recently enacted federal law that requires the U.S. attorney general

to establish a pilot program to move nonviolent elderly offenders to supervised home detention.

The law recognizes research that shows people "tend to 'age out' of crime," he said.

The 83 year old supposedly acted in self-defense according to his attorney.

The question to consider is whether the non-violent elderly should be given

supervised home detention. Another issue is the degree of medical care:

should we pay for transplants? expensive chemotherapy? etc.

What is your opinion on the subject?

Being Number One is NOT something to brag about

According to the Dallas Morning News, Texas juvenile prisons led the nation

in incidents of sexual violence during 2005 and 2006.

There were 21 confirmed cases of abuse by staff members and

26 confirmed cases involving youth on youth non consensual sexual crimes.

No other state had more than 9 incidents.

Texas accounted for 29 percent of such substantiated allegations nationwide,

though the state's share of youth incarcerated was only 11 percent of the national total.

The state's juvenile system was the subject of scandals in 2007 and an overhaul of the entire

system is still being completed. A number of supervisors and managers were fired and new

safeguards that include surveillance cameras and hot lines have been put into place.

Juvenile justice is the subject of numerous studies as experts try to find ways to rehabilitate

and educate those considered juveniles in order to prevent their becoming recidivists and entering

the adult prison system.

If You Are heading to law school or read cases for class

This is a delightfully written article that tells you how to read a law case and what you need to know about it.

Well worth reading if you are law school bound or will be reading cases in your courses or just because you enjoy reading the new cases that the Supreme Court issues.